


The Value of Restraint

by sal_si_puedes



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: BDSM, Cock Cages, Dom/sub, Dom/sub Play, Light Bondage, M/M, Orgasm Control, Orgasm Delay, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Orgasm Denial, Porn with Feelings, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Shameless Smut, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:47:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27352216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sal_si_puedes/pseuds/sal_si_puedes
Summary: After they’ve separated from Booker at the pub, the rest of the team travels back to France, where Copley has arranged a safe apartment for them in Paris. They finally have some time to themselves, time to unwind, time to regroup and time to take care of each other.Nicky has a special request, and Joe is honored (and also very, very pleased) to grant Nicky his wish. It’s something they indulge in from time to time, and after 900 years of doing so, they’re very, very good at it – which doesn’t mean that it doesn’t still pose certain challenges for them. Smut ensues. Lots of smut.Written as a prompt fill for theAll Kinkmeme and More Prompt Exchangeover at the "All and More" discord server.Sesh, akaserinahissued the following prompt, which I saw, grabbed and ran with it. Thank you for a great prompt, Sesh! I hope you enjoy this. :)Prompt:One of the boys is heavily into orgasm denial and/or chastity. The other indulges him. The denial lasts for days. Can feature a cock cage or not.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 41
Kudos: 180
Collections: All Kinkmeme and More: a very casual prompt n fill exchange!





	1. Day 1, Afternoon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Serinah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serinah/gifts).



> Thank you SO much for the beta, [Frogie](https://treefrogie84.tumblr.com/) and [Tissie](https://samshinechester.tumblr.com/)!!! You are amazing! Thank you SO MUCH!!
> 
> And thanks to my Smut Summit Ladies ([baronsamediswife](https://baronsamediswife.tumblr.com/) and [buttheyrebrothers](https://buttheyrebrothers.tumblr.com/)) and everyone on “All and More” discord for the support!!!

The very moment Joe’s arousal crests and he starts to come, Nicky pulls out and scoots down lightning-fast to take Joe into his mouth and swallow his blinding, all-consuming release. Joe’s so far gone with pleasure that he doesn’t grasp at first what is happening, but his body arches into the new caress, lips instead of fingers, and he fucks into Nicky’s mouth until his climax finally ebbs and his mind clears again, at least a little.

Once his cock stops pulsing, he can feel Nicky smile around him, and then there’s one last swallow before Nicky rolls onto his back next to Joe, breathing raggedly, one hand resting on his own chest and his eyes squeezed shut.

Joe rolls onto his side and props himself up on one elbow. He opens his mouth to ask Nicky what brought that on when his eyes travelling down Nicky body find that Nicky’s still hard. Nicky’s other hand is fisting around the sheets beneath them, and his cock twitches helplessly under Joe’s amazed gaze. There’s pre-come glistening on Nicky’s cock and stomach; he always gets so wet when he’s that turned on.

Smiling, Joe reaches down and tries to take Nicky’s cock into his hand, but before his fingers can even touch it, Nicky catches Joe’s wrist in an iron grip, and shakes his head. 

“No,” is all he grits out, and Joe can feel how Nicky’s fingers around his wrist tighten, and then Nicky shakes his head, fast and a little desperate, and bites his lips so hard they turn white. 

“Nico,” Joe says, his eyes roaming Nicky’s body once more, his bitten lips, the pulsing vein in his throat, his heaving chest and the heated reddish hue covering his skin, a tell-tale harbinger of orgasm. They drink in his tense, trembling muscles, his clenched fist, his straining, throbbing cock. “Let me—”

“No,” Nicky whispers, exhaling slowly through his nose, visibly willing his muscles to relax and his arousal not to spike. “No.”

“Okay,” Joe murmurs, holding completely still until Nicky’s fingers around his wrist loosen a little and he can withdraw his hand. 

“Don’t move,” Nicky says, his eyes still tightly closed, and Joe nods. “It’s too much. I—"

“Okay.”

Joe watches Nicky struggle until his arousal calms down enough for Nicky to be able to open his eyes again. When he does, and when they meet with Joe’s, they’re dark with need. And there is a question in them, a plea, that causes Joe’s chest to constrict.

“Are you sure, my love?”

After another long and very shaky breath, Nicky nods. His eyes bore into Joe’s as if this invisible bridge between them were the only thing that is keeping Nicky from falling.

“Okay,” Joe says and nods slowly, a very faint smile playing around the corners of his mouth. “We’ll talk about it later. Now try and calm down a little. Just breathe. Yeah, just like that…”

“Thank you,” Nicky murmurs after a short while. He lets his eyelids flutter shut and reaches for Joe’s hand again. 

“Whatever you want.”

A shiver runs through Nicky’s body in reaction to Joe’s warm voice, and his hold on Joe’s hand tightens a little, but it’s gentle this time, reassuring, not raw and desperate as it was before. Joe squeezes back, gently, carefully, and when a small smile appears on Nicky’s face, he even dares to let his thumb brush over the back of Nicky’s hand. Nicky can take it now. He’s not on the edge anymore.

Joe has a little time to think while Nicky gathers himself, and he’s already doing some pre-planning in his mind. If they’re really going to do this, and from the look in Nicky’s eyes as well as from the trembling tension in his body Joe gathers that they _are_ , in fact, really going to do this, in just a couple of days Nicky won’t be able to tolerate any fabric against his skin anywhere on his body, and he’ll eventually ask Joe to restrain him. He always does when they do this. And he’ll need some time to recover, after, some time to come back to himself. They both will.

There’s a house in the South, just thirty miles west of Cahors, Joe thinks he can secure for them for a couple of weeks. He’ll have to make a few calls when they get up later.

He holds Nicky’s hand the entire time until Nicky opens his eyes again roughly ten minutes later. Nicky’s cock is only half-hard now, and his breathing has evened out considerably. His skin isn’t flushed anymore, and the vast longing in his eyes has subsided a little.

“So,” Joe says when Nicky tilts his head to the side, smacks his lips and smiles at him. “Why now?”

Nicky shrugs, and his smile falters a bit. “Just… I don’t know, it’s been a while, and I…”

When Nicky falls silent, Joe gently caresses Nicky’s features and brushes the still sweaty hair from Nicky’s forehead.

“Is it feelings of guilt, because of what we decided about Booker?”

They don’t mention Booker, none of them does, but he’s present in everything they don’t say. It’s worst during mealtimes, so, in a way, everyone is relieved when meals are over, and it has been hard on Nicky. Joe knows that.

For a moment Nicky’s brows furrow ever so slightly, but then he shakes his head. “No,” he says, and Joe can both hear and see that he’s still thinking about it while he’s forming those words, that he’s still searching for them somewhere deep inside. “I do, in a way. I do feel guilty. I mean, it was the right decision to make, but… No, it’s not because of that. It’s—I don’t know. It’s just—” He leans into Joe’s touch when Joe cups his jaw, and he covers Joe’s hand with his. “I _need_. I need to come back to myself again. To be centered.” His head turns to the side, and his lips brush against Joe’s palm. They’re so soft it almost breaks Joe’s heart. It cuts to his very core, and from there it resonates through everything he is. 

Joe nods. Nicky would never lie to him, and especially not about something like this. The ‘I don’t know’ doesn’t sit one hundred percent right with him, though, but he decides that he will have to watch out for what lies behind it.

“Okay,” he finally says, and immediately, Nicky’s features soften a bit, and the shadowy circles under his eyes darken a little more. Nicky’s tired, Joe knows that. He’s still so very tired after everything that has happened. “How do you want to do this, then?”

Nicky brushes his lips against Joe’s palm a couple of times, humming low in his throat. Then he turns Joe’s hand around and kisses his knuckles. He’s exhausted, Joe can see that, and he’s going to need some sleep soon.

“Stay here for a couple of days?” Nicky mumbles against Joe’s hand. “Then go somewhere together where it’s just you and me?”

Joe smiles and nods. He knows that Nicky likes to have the others around for a while; company keeps him anchored, helps him not to rush into it too fast, body, mind, heart and soul.

“I’ll check if we can have the house in the South; I’ll check as soon as you’re asleep,” Joe murmurs, and pulls their joint hands towards his own mouth. 

“Thank you,” Nicky whispers, his voice already slurred by what sounds like a bone-deep fatigue. “’m not sleepy, though…”

“Of course not,” Joe whispers and kisses Nicky’s hand again. “Do you want a blanket?”

Nicky shakes his head slowly. “Not yet. Too much.”

Joe nods, even though Nicky can’t see him anymore. He understands. Everything would be too much right now. He brushes Nicky’s hair from his forehead one more time and places a soft kiss on Nicky’s slightly parted lips. This, this isn’t too much, not anymore, not as it would have been a couple of minutes ago.

Nicky sighs and licks his lips.

They have already started.


	2. Day 1, Evening and Night

Shortly before dinner, Nicky wakes up again. In the meantime, Joe has made sure they can have the house for the next two months, better safe than sorry, and he has talked Nile into doing the cooking tonight. He is going to have a proper talk about this with Nicky before they join the others, so he’s there when Nicky wakes up, watching him closely as he stretches and blinks and finally sits up. 

While Nicky has been sleeping, Joe has placed a blanket over him, careful not to choose one too heavy or scratchy. Nicky wraps it around himself now, around his shoulders as he sits up and crosses his legs inside his little blanket-tent. 

“How do you feel?” Joe asks, gently running his hand over Nicky’s head. He’s searching for his eyes, and after just a short moment, Nicky looks up. 

“Wired,” Nicky says, the way he looks at Joe open and incredibly vulnerable. “Very turned on. I can still feel that I didn’t come, earlier. It feels good. _I_ feel good.”

“Good,” Joe nods, letting his fingers run down Nicky’s throat, his eyes never leaving Nicky’s, casually feeling for his pulse. “Your pulse is still a little high. You’re really sure about this?”

From the corner of his eyes he can see how Nicky pulls his lower lip between his teeth and worries it. “Yeah,” Nicky says after a moment of silence and straightens his back. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay,” Joe repeats, his hand gently stroking down Nicky’s back. “How long do you want to go for, then?”

“Two weeks?” Nicky tilts his head to the side, narrowing his eyes a bit. “Or, no, wait. Today’s the first, right? A month. Let’s try for the whole month this time.”

“A month is a long time,” Joe smiles, and Nicky nods. “We haven’t done that in a while, tried for such a long time. You’re still pretty beat, and it _is_ a long time,” he adds when Nicky’s brows furrow.

“Yeah, it is. You’re right; it’s going to be difficult.”

“If we do this I’ll help you,” Joe says, and now it’s Nicky’s turn to nod. “I can help you make it a month.”

“I know you will. Thank you.”

“Because you know what happens when you slip, don’t you?” 

Nicky nods. “We start again. From day one. Until—”

“Yes,” Joe replies, kissing Nicky’s lips gently. “And again, and _again_. Until you make it. And you know how much more difficult it gets the second time. Or the third. How wound up you are by then.”

“Yeah. Yes, I know.” Nicky’s throaty reply is the most arousing thing, and Joe has to take a long, deep breath to keep himself together. 

“I should have asked that earlier, but—” Joe cups Nicky’s jaw again, gently stroking his thumb over Nicky’s lower lip. “Give me your out-word.” It’s a term they came up with many, _many_ decades, if not centuries ago before they even knew there was a name for what they were doing. Joe and Nicky both know they don’t really need a safe-word, not anymore, but – just like the rules they know by heart after all those centuries and yet they still invoke each time they do this – it’s become a bit of a ritual, a personal signal that from now on this certain set of rules is in effect. So, Joe asks every time.

Nicky takes a deep breath. “Urbino,” he finally says. 

“Eclipse.”

Joe leans forward and draws Nicky in for a long, deep kiss, a kiss that leaves them both a little out of breath.

“Are you still aroused?” Joe asks, running his fingers along the outline of Nicky’s thigh, his lips still touching Nicky’s, and he can feel Nicky shiver in response. “Are you still hard under there?”

“Shit,” Nicky shivers again and bites his lips when Joe tries to lick into his mouth. “Getting there again.” He leans back, propping himself on his hands, and closes his eyes. He’s breathing through his nose, which tells Joe that he has him exactly where he wants him. The next four weeks will be like this, Nicky in a state of nearly constant arousal without it ever coming to a close. Joe will make sure he guides him there again and again, right to the very edge, and to help him stay on this side as well.

“Good,” Joe grins, climbs off the bed and tosses Nicky a pair of jeans and a worn-out t-shirt from a pile of their clothes on one of the chairs. “Dinner in ten. Nile’s making mac’n’cheese.”

Nicky shifts to grab the clothing, and as soon as he moves, he groans. Joe’s cock stirs a little at that, and he can’t blame it. The prospect of having Nicky with him like that for a whole long, glorious month, of having Nicky in that state for an entire month, it’s intoxicating. And this is just the beginning.

This is going to be so fucking good.

*****

Half an hour later Nicky looks at him across the dining table, and Joe can tell from the fire in his eyes that he’s already humming with anticipation. When he gives Nicky a subtle wink and licks his lips as if to clean them from something he just ate, Nicky lets out a short huff and shifts in his chair. Joe grins.

“I want you to fuck me again, later,” Joe steps up behind Nicky when Nicky’s busy cleaning the dishes and seems a little lost in thought. He gently places his hand on Nicky’s throat, right over his Adam’s apple. “But this time, I want you to stay inside me while I come.”

Nicky swallows thickly, Joe can feel that against his palm. The fork Nicky has been holding drops into the sink and clatters against something below the water’s foamy surface, a plate maybe or one of the mugs.

“And start packing your bag tomorrow morning after breakfast,” he adds, lazily rocking his hips against Nicky’s ass. He licks over the nape of Nicky’s neck, and when Nicky shudders, he does it again. “I want you to be ready in case we need to leave on short notice.”

Nicky nods. Joe licks the nape of his neck again, then he kisses him there before he takes a step backwards and turns around to leave. 

“Oh,” he adds casually, about halfway through the door, looking back at Nicky over his shoulder. “I almost forgot.”

Nicky turns to look at him, a dish towel now thrown over his shoulder and some of the dish washing foam in his hair. Joe grins. Nicky has run his fingers through his hair. Joe’s words seem to have the effect on Nicky he wants them to have.

“As of now, no touching yourself, unless I tell you to. No initiating anything, either. You know the rules.”

This time a plate slides from Nicky’s hands and into the water-filled basin, and Joe smirks. He knows how much Nicky will want to do just that, how his fingers will be dying for it, to touch himself and to touch Joe, and the idea of Nicky begging him for permission in just a couple of days is too delicious, too mouth-wateringly indecent to be had in a public space like the kitchen. It’s a really good thing that they have separate rooms in this place.

Joe makes for their bedroom quickly, grabbing a glass of water from the tap in the bathroom on his way. He sets it down on the bedside table on Nicky’s side, and then he looks at the bed, his hand idly rubbing at his crotch. He’s going to do what Nicky can’t, and he’s going to let Nicky see it once he joins him in here. Although he wants it to look like a casual position, he arranges himself on their bed carefully and for the strongest possible effect: laying back against the headboard, his legs slightly spread and his right one bent at the knee, propped up. One hand curled above his head, he unbuckles his belt and undoes the buttons of his pants with the other. He’s already half-hard when he slides his hand inside, his fingers itching to touch and his cock fattening in expectation. 

The tips of his fingers burn against his skin, and he slides down the headboard a tiny bit further, spreading his legs a little more. He needs to be careful with this, to take it slow, or it will be over way too fast. It’s always like this when they do this, especially in the beginning, and even the mere thought turns him on. He can only imagine the state _Nicky_ must be in right now.

His mind travels back to a night a couple of decades ago, to too many bottles of vodka and wine. It had just been the three of them, Nicky, Booker and him, at the time. Nicky had already gone to bed for the night, and he and Booker had kept drinking and playing cards. Joe blames it on the booze that he had told Booker about this, about how he and Nicky sometimes do this, sometimes for weeks. Booker’s eyes had gone wide, and he had refilled his glass and downed it in one go.

“It must be really intense when he finally gets to—You know.” Booker had gestured vaguely at his crotch, and Joe had nodded.

“Yeah,” he had said, thinking of Nicky’s face when he finally lets go after weeks of this. “It is.”

“And what’s in it for you?” Booker had asked and had refilled both their glasses again. “Why do you like it so much that you put yourself and him through that? For weeks even”

Back then, he had been unable to put into words what this was about besides giving Nicky what he wants. But he had thought about it often ever since that drunken conversation, which both him and Booker had completely ignored the following morning and had never spoken of again ever since.

It’s how open Nicky is when they do this, and about how that openness builds and builds over the days, the weeks, and when they’re standing on that edge together, at the end, it’s all-encompassing and more. It thrills—no, it completely _shakes and breaks_ him that Nicky trusts him so much, that he lets him have this, that he entrusts him with all this control and power.

It’s the state Nicky is already in, must already be in right now, and that he’ll come to Joe when he is like this in just a couple of minutes and trust him so much to let him see. That he gives himself to Joe like that and allows Joe to push this even further, _him_ , to push _him_ even further – to his limits and beyond.

A quiet moan falls from Joe’s lips, and he lets his eyelids flutter shut. He thinks of Nicky in the kitchen, drying the last few dishes, already hard and leaking pre-come. He thinks of Nicky thinking of him, of this, of fucking Joe later— _soon_ —, of making Joe come and of hovering on that edge for a small eternity before finally being able to take a step backwards and just feel.

He knows exactly how Nicky’s going to look on that edge, how he’s going to move and to still, how he’s going to sound, and how he’s going to taste. Nicky’s edge-taste has to be one of the most intoxicating things in this universe. He loves kissing Nicky when he’s like that, he loves to fuck his mouth until all Nicky can do is withdraw, press his lips together and turn his head away because everything, even that, becomes too much. _Especially_ that. 

He knows exactly how Nicky feels when he’s begging Joe not to touch him while his entire body is screaming for nothing but for Joe’s touch. He knows exactly how the hollow of Nicky’s throat tastes when he touches him there with just the very tip of his tongue, not giving in to Nicky’s pleas just yet. He knows how Nicky’s heartbeat sings against the tip of his tongue then, and how raw and exposed that’s going to make Nicky feel. How safe.

His fingers have curled around himself and he’s fully erect by now. Running his thumb over his slit, he can feel something warm, wet, and slippery, and he really should take this a little slower if he wants Nicky to get to that point a second time today.

The sound of a door closing and a shaky exhale coax Joe to open his eyes again.

Nicky’s standing there, one hand on his chest, right there over his heart, and a distinct bulge in his pants. Joe grins, quickly toes off his shoes and gets rid off his pants and underwear.

“Come here,” he says, grabbing hold of his cock again. He lowers his head onto the pillows and bends his legs at the knees, spreading them. “I want you to fuck me now.”

Nicky nods and begins to pull off his shirt but Joe interrupts.

“No, just the shoes and the jeans. Leave the shirt on.”

Nicky freezes in his motions and groans quietly.

Joe chuckles. Nicky’s reaction shows him that he knows that Joe’s doing this on purpose, demanding that he keep his shirt on and keeping his own shirt on as well. It’s going to be so much more difficult to hold back when there’s clothes, when there’s constant touch against his skin when he’s on the edge. The fabric over his nipples and against the burning skin on his lower belly, maybe even against the tip of his cock holds every potential to cause his downfall. Joe can tell from this small groan and the dark glitter of infinite arousal in his eyes how well this is already working. 

“Come here,” Joe says again and holds out his hand, and there’s a small jar in its palm, and Nicky groans again. It’s lube with stimulating oils in it, and it’s going to make Nicky’s fingers _burn_. His fingers, and then his cock. “Open me up a bit before you—”   
.  
Nicky makes quick work of getting out of his shoes and pants. Then he climbs onto the bed and crawls upwards until he’s between Joe’s legs, takes the jar from Joe’s hand and opens the lid. His eyes dart back and forth between the jar and Joe’s cleft, and after a moment, Joe chuckles again. 

“Come on. You’re going to love it. I promise.”

“I know,” Nicky finally says, answering Joe’s grin with one of his own. “That’s precisely the problem.” He dips his fingers into the clear gel and brings his hand between Joe’s legs. When his fingertips run over Joe’s entrance the first time, it clenches, and Nicky bites his lips. “God,” he gasps, “how—” His fingers gently circle Joe’s hole for a few moments, coating it with the lube, and then Nicky pushes in, only with the very tip of his middle finger.

Joe doesn’t need much prep, but Joe is certain that Nicky is going to draw this out. The longer Nicky stays outside of Joe’s tight heat, the less likely he is to lose the fight against the edge. 

“That’s enough,” Joe says after only a few minutes, and Nicky’s head snaps up, his eyes wide with arousal. “You can touch yourself now, get some lube on your cock and—”

Joe grins when Nicky’s fingers shake a little when he pulls them out and reaches for the jar. Joe watches him dip them into it again and catches his lower lip between his teeth. He can’t wait to see Nicky’ face when he coats himself and the stimulants begin to take effect. They can only do this now, only in the very beginning of this. Later, Nicky will be too sensitive to hold back like this, so Joe is going to enjoy this for all it’s worth.

When Nicky enters him, Joe closes his eyes and exhales. It’s always the best moment, really, becoming one like this, and it’s no different from when he pushes into Nicky. It’s better than coming; it’s almost as good as eventually making Nicky come. 

When Nicky is all the way inside, he leans forward and captures Joe’s mouth in a deep, hungry kiss. His hand comes up to cup Joe’s jaw, to stroke his face, carefully avoiding the eyes because of the stimulants in the lube. The entire time, he stays still otherwise, he doesn’t move one bit, just his cock throbs and swells inside of Joe.

Eventually, Joe opens his eyes again, and finds Nicky carefully studying his face. 

“Can I touch you?” Nicky asks, his voice laced with carefully bridled desire.

Joe nods. Nicky doesn’t ask for Joe’s permission to use some of the lube on him as well, but Joe’s going to let it slide this once. He doesn’t want to make it too challenging in these early stages; he wants Nicky to succeed, after all. And winding him up not too much, but just the right way is paramount. 

Nicky slowly brings his hand between their bodies, his lube-coated knuckles gently brushing over Joe’s lower belly. When Nicky’s fingers close around him, Joe arches into the touch. 

It doesn’t take Nicky long to make Joe come, the effort and the willpower it takes him to not follow Joe into the blissful abyss of climax is an utterly beautiful thing to behold. He’s allowed to pull out as soon as Joe has climaxed unless he’s told otherwise, he knows that, and Joe hasn’t said anything, so he does pull out as soon as he can, his fingers fisting into the sheets. 

“You’re beautiful,” Joe murmurs, nuzzling at Nicky’s throat and letting his fingers casually play with the hem of his shirt. “You’re so beautiful like this… I bet I could make you come with just the smallest touch…”

Nicky bites his lips and shakes his head, his body trembling with tension, just like earlier, and he’s biting back the words that have to be right there on the very tip of his tongue. _Don’t touch me. Don’t_ — He gasps when Joe’s fingers brush over his cloth-covered nipple, and his hips jerk. “No,” he gasps. “Can’t—”

But after a few deep, calming breaths, he’s regained control again, and Joe tears his eyes away from Nicky’s face to look at his groin.

His cock is so beautiful as well, breathtaking even, hard and dark and just begging to be sucked. “I want to suck your cock,” Joe murmurs, and Nicky’s cock twitches in response. 

“Don’t,” Nicky whispers, his grip on the sheets tightening. “Please, don’t…”

“Don’t worry.” Joe smirks, reaching out to touch Nicky’s cock, letting his fingers run up and down the shaft in a slow, gentle caress. 

Nicky’s breathing stutters, and Joe’s smile broadens.

“I won’t. Not today. But I will. Soon.”

“Fuck,” Nicky hisses, and his cock twitches again, so Joe withdraws his hand and lies back. 

“Talk to me,” Joe says, folding his hands beneath his head. “Tell me something.” He needs to bring Nicky down a bit; he needs him to be able to sleep later. “And don’t forget that there’s a glass of water on the nightstand. You should try and drink some when you can.”

Nicky nods, and even though Joe knows that he already knows what Joe’s answer is going to be, he asks: “What do you want me to tell you?”

“Tell me about Genova,” Joe says. “Tell me about the hills and the olives again. The coast. The port. Tell me what you remember…”

Joe lets Nicky talk until he falls asleep. After that, he waits a couple of minutes, listening to Nicky’s soft breathing as raptly as to his stories and memories before, then he quickly rises and cleans himself up in the bathroom. On his way back he brings a wet cloth for Nicky and carefully washes his fingers and his cock, trying his best not to wake him up. And even though Nicky stirs, gasps and lets out a few quiet moans, he doesn’t wake.

When he’s finished, Joe pulls the covers over Nicky and over himself and closes his eyes.


	3. Day 2 - Day 6

By the end of the fifth day, Nicky’s starting to get moody, even though he denies it vehemently. All through the day, Joe observes how Nicky keeps picking at his clothes, scratching his skin through them, tugging at the collar of his shirt, adjusting his crotch and wincing at the sensations his actions cause. Joe’s been teasing him all day, just with little and very subtle things, and after lunch, he maneuvered Nicky onto his knees in the bathroom and fucked his mouth. 

“We’re leaving tomorrow, after lunch,” he tells Nicky when they’ve retired to bed for the night, Joe’s fingers loosely wrapped around Nicky’s half-hard cock. He runs his thumb over the slit, and Nicky hums. “I want you all to myself now,” he adds, nosing at Nicky’s pulse point. “I want all of this all to myself.”

He can feel how the note he’s let pour into his voice is having the intended effect on Nicky, on his cock. He grows fully erect in mere seconds, and his heartbeat accelerates.

“How are you feeling,” Joe continues, giving Nicky’s throat a playful lick. “Hm?”

“I think it’s good we’re going to leave tomorrow,” Nicky says after a short pause, and he sounds pensive, stumbling over his words a little while speaking. “I know I said I didn’t think so earlier, at dinner, but…”

His hand closes around Joe’s wrist when Joe gives his cock a long, languid stroke. Joe shakes his head. Nicky’s not allowed to stop him from touching him, and he knows that, so Joe gives him another stroke just for good measure, and he leaves his own hand right there, his fingers still wrapped around Nicky’s cock.

“I think it’s a good thing we’re leaving tomorrow,” Nicky repeats, and it’s obvious to Joe that Nicky’s trying to keep his voice as calm and steady as possible, and to let Joe have his way. 

Joe nods. “Now go to sleep,” he says and brushes a quick kiss on Nicky’s lips. And even though he knows that it’s probably too much sensation for Nicky to fall asleep, he doesn’t move his hand. It just feels so good, and he thinks it’s alright to indulge himself a little.

A few hours later, he wakes up because Nicky’s rolling his hips against his side, thrusting against him, moaning, low and breathless, and for a moment Joe isn’t sure if Nicky’s awake or asleep.

“Nicolò,” he whispers, but when Nicky doesn’t react even when Joe says his name again, a little louder this time, he reaches for his shoulder and gives it a firm shake.

“Nicolò. Wake up.”

Nicky’s achingly hard against Joe’s leg, and Joe can feel that he’s leaking already, so it’s time to put a stop to it _right now_.

“Nico. Wake up!”

Nicky’s hips stutter, and he comes back from sleep with a pained gasp. “Fuck,” he hisses, rocking his groin against Joe’s hip even harder, speeding up the movements of his hips. “Oh, shit. I—”

“Nico!” Joe’s fingers dig into the muscles of Nicky’s shoulder _hard_ , and Nicky freezes, then he abruptly rolls onto his other side, curling in on himself.

“Fuck,” he murmurs, and for a moment, Joe thinks he’s touching himself, but a quick glance over Nicky’s shoulder tells him that he’s just rocking back and forth a little, pressing his fingers down on that spot at the base of his cock. “Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, _fu_ —”

“Nico,” Joe says again, loud and clear. “Stop it.”

“Shit,” Nicky hisses, his voice trembling with arousal. “Shit, I fell asleep. Sorry, _sorry_ …”

“It’s okay,” Joe soothes, not quite touching Nicky yet, but letting his hand hover over his upper arm. “It’s okay, my love. You didn’t come.”

“Fuck,” Nicky curses again, and Joe just knows how embarrassed Nicky is right now. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, I swear. If you hadn’t woken me up, I’d—”

“But I did. And you didn’t,” Joe says and slowly and very, very gently places his hand on Nicky’s arm. “Do you want the cage? Later, I mean?”

Joe knows that Nicky _hates_ the cock cage, but he suggests it anyway. Maybe this time Nicky will wa—

“No,” Nicky says, and he takes a deep, shaky breath before he rolls onto his back and turns his head towards Joe. “I can do it like this. I promise.”

“Okay,” Joe nods, brushing the hair from Nicky’s forehead carefully. He makes a mental note to grab the cage in the morning, nevertheless. He wants to be able to give Nicky options later. “But today was the last time you got to fuck me for the time remaining. Not going to take any more chances… Do you want to try and go back to sleep now?” 

Nicky shakes his head. “Too wound up. I’ll go for a run, I think, then have a shower.”

“Okay,” Joe repeats, kissing Nicky’s hot cheek briefly. “You do that. Wake me up when you need anything, ‘kay?”

“Yeah,” Nicky smiles. He sits up and spreads the covers over Joe’s torso again once he’s slipped out underneath. “I will do that.”

Joe briefly wakes when Nicky returns after an hour or so, freshly showered, his hair still damp and his skin still a little flushed. Joe stretches his arm out when Nicky climbs into bed, and Nicky snuggles up against his side, he can feel him smiling against his shoulder, and he can feel a soft kiss there as well.

“’m gonna fuck you when we wake up t’morrow,” Joe murmurs, his mind foggy with sleep. He can feel Nicky nod against his shoulder and hum in response. “Before breakfast.”

Nicky’s palm comes to rest on Joe’s chest, and Joe covers it with his own hand, lightly curling his fingers around it. 

“Gonna fuck you so hard,” he whispers against Nicky’s temple, and Nicky curls his fingers to squeeze his. “You’ll be dripping with my come when you finish packing your bag.” When Nicky shivers in response, he brushes his lips against his hair and hums soothingly. Nicky’s so warm and relaxed after his shower, and Joe doesn’t really want to change that. Just a little tease before lights out, so to speak. Something to fuel Nicky’s dreams. And his. “Now go to sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

Nicky smacks his lips and gives Joe’s hand another little squeeze, and Joe smiles. 

The following morning, they sleep in rather late, and Joe makes good on his promise from the night before. Nicky has to ask him three times to slow down, to stop, to please not touch him, so when Joe finally empties himself, Nicky is shaking with the effort to hold back. In the end, he manages, but just barely, and he’s still so wound up at breakfast that it seems he doesn’t really feel like eating. 

When they’ve finished packing the few things that weren’t in their bags already, they say their goodbyes to Nile and Andy and load their luggage into the trunk of the car.

“Ready?” Joe says, tilting his head and scratching the back of his neck. Nicky’s staring at the passenger’s door, but he doesn’t move.

“Hm?” Nicky looks up, and their eyes meet across the roof of the car. It’s a six-hour drive, and Nicky looks as if he could fall asleep at any second.

“Are you ready?” Joe asks again, letting a little smile unfurl on his face. He knows Nicky is ready, more than ready, but it feels good to ask anyway.

“Yeah, I am,“ Nicky says and reaches for the door handle. He opens the door and smiles. “Come on. Let’s go.”


	4. Day 6 - Day 21

Nicky does spend a large part of the drive asleep, cozied up against Joe’s side with Joe’s arm slung around his shoulders or leaning against the passenger window with Joe’s left hand in his lap, cupping his cock through his pants. It’s a beautiful sunny day, and each time Nicky wakes from his sleep, he blinks and gives Joe the most beautiful of all smiles. 

Joe thinks of what he’s planned for the evening while he’s driving. He will make true on that promise to suck Nicky’s cock tonight, and he will take his sweet time doing so. He’s going to bring himself off with Nicky’s cock in his mouth and Nicky’s hands fisting into his hair. He’s going to come over his own fingers, moaning around Nicky’s cock, and Nicky’s grip on his hair will tighten when Joe spills, and Nicky will hold his breath and bite his lips until Joe’s done. 

Joe will then let Nicky’s cock slip from his mouth, and he will circle Nicky’s crown with just the tip of his tongue once before he’ll let go of it. He will rise to his feet again and pull Nicky into a loose embrace, and he will hold him until they’re both sure Nicky won’t come. He will hold him a little longer even, kissing Nicky’s hot cheeks, until Nicky will be able to turn his head towards Joe and search for his lips.

The first ten days or so at the house go exactly like this, pretty smoothly, and sometimes, Joe thinks they could have stayed with the others a little longer.

Nicky is in that state of nearly constant arousal now even without Joe’s doing. He’s horny all the time, and seeing that is such a turn on for Joe that he isn’t much better off himself. It’s a good thing that he, unlike Nicky, is free to touch himself and to initiate sexual contact whenever he feels like it, so he sometimes indulges himself. But even more frequently, he revels in watching Nicky squirm and wince and shift and bite his lips and gasp and moan. 

As always, Nicky tries to hold back at first, even though it’s just them now. Even though he knows that there’s no need to be embarrassed, but, for some reason, he still is. Joe tells him again and again that it’s okay, that he is beautiful like this, that Joe’s so turned on by this, but at first, Nicky tries to hide what state he’s in. 

Joe knows that that will change eventually. 

They’re on a grocery run when it finally does. Joe offered to go alone, and Nicky could stay at home, but Nicky had wanted to come with, and Joe had let him.

They’re on their way back, driving along the narrow country road and meeting just the occasional car driving in the other direction. Joe’s hand is in Nicky’s lap, his fingers teasingly brushing over Nicky’s very erect cock. Nicky shifts and squirms, and Joe grins. When Nicky’s cock palpably twitches and Nicky gasps, Joe’s own cock gives a twitch as well, and for a moment the fingers of his other hand clench around the steering wheel.

“Shit,” Nicky hisses, when Joe does it again, and presses his fist to his mouth. “Shit. Fuck. Stop the car.”

“What?”

Nicky’s head shakes violently, and his hand is clenched around the door handle so hard his knuckles have turned white. “Stop the fucking car,” he grinds out. “ _Now._ ”

Joe quickly pulls over and stops, and the second the car comes to a halt, Nicky is outside, facing the car and leaning forward, his hands propped against the edge of the car’s roof and his legs spread a little. His head is hanging between his shoulders, his chin almost touching his chest, and his breathing is coming in ragged gasps.

“Nicolò,” Joe murmurs once he’s out of the car as well and quickly walks around it to where Nicky is standing. 

“Fuck,” Nicky curses, shaking his head and tightening his grip on the car. “I’m—I’m going to come.”

“No,” Joe says, taking a step closer and shaking his head as well. “You’re not.”

Nicky moans, and his hips give a little jerk. “I _am_. Fuck, I’m—”

“You are _not_ ,” Joe says. “Do you hear me? You’re _not_ going to come.”

“Fuck,” Nicky hisses, spreading his legs a little further. “Let me—You have—Don’t tell me—” He takes a deep, shuddering breath, and when he exhales again, he moans in a way Joe thinks that he might actually be right this time. “I can’t—”

“You can,” Joe says, reaching out to touch Nicky’s arm lightly. “You _can_.”

Nicky bites back another moan and tries to shake Joe’s hand off, but Joe is having none of that.

“You can.”

“Fuck, Yusuf,” Nicky snaps, panting. “Fuck off and leave me the fuck alone while I come in my fucking pants, okay? You have no fucking idea how—oh, _shit_ —”

Joe keeps stroking Nicky’s arm lightly until Nicky can breathe again, until he dares to let go of the car with one hand and run the back over his mouth. 

“Fuck,” Nicky breathes and, shaking his head, can’t help but chuckle hoarsely. “That was _close_.”

“I noticed,” Joe grins and moves his hand to Nicky’s back. “Better?”

“Yeah,” Nicky murmurs, leaning against the car again, breathing deeply. “Thank you. And sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“I know,” Joe says and keeps stroking Nicky gently. “Don’t worry about it.”

After another couple of minutes, Nicky is able to turn around and lean against the car with his back. He runs his fingers through his hair and purses his lips. They’re bitten red.

“Do you—” he starts but falls silent again.

“What?” Joe steps up to him and cups his jaw, lifting his head so they can lock eyes. “What do you need?”

“I was—I know I said I didn’t want it but… Did you bring the cage?”

Joe’s stomach lurches. He nods. 

“Yes, my love. I did. Of course, I did.”

“Good,” Nicky murmurs, leaning into the touch. “I _might_ need it after all. Later. Just in case.”

“All you have to do is ask,” Joe says, brushing his thumb over Nicky’s lips. Nicky hates asking for it even more than he hates the cage itself. At least in the beginning.

“I know,” Nicky says, letting his eyelids flutter shut. He inhales deeply. “Thank you.”

Joe gives Nicky – and his own throbbing erection – another minute or so before he speaks again.

“You ready to get back in the car? Ready to go home?”

Nicky nods, and once they’re inside, Joe turns on the radio. Nicky looks out of the partly opened passenger window for the rest of the drive, his hand in Joe’s, and lets the wind play with his hair. 

As soon as they’re home and inside the house, Nicky pulls off his shirt and groans. “I need to get out of these clothes.”

Joe smiles. The time of embarrassment is apparently over. 

After that, Nicky is naked almost the entire time, and he asks Joe for the cock cage most evenings before they go to bed and sometimes during the day as well. The first time Joe puts it on him, Nicky is lying down already with Joe kneeling next to him, they have to wait over half an hour before they can do it because Nicky’s permanently hard. By the time he’s soft enough to put it on, Joe is so turned on that he makes himself come right there and then, the moment the lock fastens. He does it, all over Nicky’s chest and stomach, and afterwards he traces lazy patterns there with his fingertips.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he keeps telling Nicky all the way through it, and Nicky’s getting aroused again at that, even inside the cage. “You’re so fucking beautiful like this, so fucking hot…”

Nicky winces, and then he laughs as Joe’s eyes widen. “That’s what you do to me,” he smiles, reaching for Joe’s face to pull him down so they can kiss. Joe’s too blissed out to object to Nicky initiating this, so he lets Nicky have his way. He deserves a small reward for the cage, Joe thinks, even though the cage is a reward in itself, at least in a way. 

One or two days later, Nicky begins to get edgy. Joe knows that what Nicky’s craving most right now is close physical contact, but he doesn’t trust himself with that, so he keeps his distance. He’s sitting in one of the armchairs, naked, leaning back, his legs spread, and he’s trying to read. From the corners of his eyes Joe, who’s also holding a book in his hands, can see how Nicky shifts and readjusts his position again and again as he begins to grow hard. He can see how Nicky’s cock twitches and how he begins to leak, how he bites his lips, and he can hear his little moans that grow louder and also a little more desperate as the time passes.

“Fuck,” Nicky growls at some point of time, and he slams the book closed and lets it drop to the floor next to his chair. His hips have begun to roll a little before that, a subtle rhythm, and even though he tries to stop them, after a stutter, the rhythm is back again. Nicky moans. “I—” His breathing hitches. “Fuck, I’m so—I really want to come,” he moans, and Joe closes his book as well and sets it aside carefully. He’s never going to get tired of this, no matter how often this happens. Nicky is beautiful like that, and Joe loves every second of every time Nicky gets to this point.

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes,” Nicky hisses and flexes his fingers. One of his hands moves a little, but he balls it into a first to keep it from reaching for his cock. “I really do. I’m changing my mind. A whole month is fucked. I want—”

His back arches and he’s actually fucking into the air now. He’s this close to begging, Joe can taste it. 

“I really want to come. Yusuf, please, let—”

“Nicolò,” Joe says, keeping his voice calm and steady. “Stop that.”

“No,” Nicky shakes his head and keeps moving his hips. “No, I really, _really_ want to come. I need to come, I mean it. I can’t do this anymore, let me—It’s been over two weeks now, hasn’t it? You were right, a month is too fucking long, and I—”

“Nicolò, I said stop it!” Joe rises from his chair and walks over to where Nicky is sitting. Nicky freezes in his movements, but his cock keeps throbbing, and from here Joe can see how wet Nicky already is. 

Nicky’s eyes are wide and dark with arousal, and they’re glittering with moisture. Usually, Nicky isn’t one to cry, but Joe knows that this kind of frustration has the power to reduce him to a sobbing, begging mess, and at the moment he can’t imagine anything more beautiful. Joe’s heart swells with love and pride.

Only thing is, it’s too early. They still have a little over a week to go till the end of the month, and he knows that deep down, very deep down, Nicky doesn’t mean what he’s saying right now. 

“Okay,” Joe says, and Nicky exhales shakily. “I’ll make you a deal. A new one. Change of rules. You can touch yourself.”

Nicky’s breathing hitches, and he pulls his lower lip between his teeth. 

“You can touch yourself, and you can make yourself come.” He tilts his head, looking down at Nicky’s throbbing cock. “If you really want to.”

“Yeah,” Nicky breathes, nodding slowly, his eyes never leaving Joe’s. “Now?”

Joe nods, but he holds his hand out to stop Nicky from reaching for his cock just yet. “But—”

“No,” Nicky shakes his head. “No _but_ , Yusuf, please, you said—”

“I know what I said, and there will be no _but_ ,” Joe says, turning towards the dining table, never letting Nicky out of his sight. He pulls up one of the chairs and sits down opposite Nicky. “You can touch yourself; you can make yourself come if that’s what you really want. But if it’s not, if you want to keep doing this, you can always ask me to tell you to stop, okay?”

“Okay,” Nicky whispers, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. He’s more aroused than Joe has ever seen him, he’s wrecked and desperate for release, and he’s already so fucking close that Joe has to play this very carefully. “Now?”

“Yes, my love,” Joe says, and Nicky’s eyes flutter open. “Now.”

“Oh, thank god,” Nicky whispers and takes himself in hand. Watching himself, mesmerized, he runs his thumb over his crown, coating it in pre-come, and he presses against his slit for a moment, locking eyes with Joe once more. “I’m so fucking close already,” he murmurs, and Joe nods.

“I know.”

“I’m not going to last long; I’m going to come soon,” Nicky moans as he begins stroking himself, slowly at first, his fingers trembling around himself. “Oh god—”

“Yeah,” Joe echoes, shifting on his chair. Nicky is a sight to behold, and he can feel the effects everywhere in his body. “I know. I know you are.”

“Fuck—” Nicky begins to stroke himself off in earnest, fucking into his fingers, covering them with pre-come. “Close—”

“Yeah,” Joe rasps, pressing the heel of his hand against his crotch. “Yeah—”

“Fuck,” Nicky gasps again, thrusting upwards and into his fist. “Fuck, Yusuf, I’m so close—I’m really gonna—Oh fuck, oh no, fuck, stop, please, _please_ , I _don’t_ want—oh no, no, _no_ , fuck, _stop_ , make me, _please_ —”

“Nico.” Joe almost yells, fully aware that Nicky’s mind is fuzzy with impending climax. “Nico. Stop.”

Nicky shakes his head, constantly moaning now, and Joe can see that that tell-tale hue of pink has already begun to spread over Nicky’s throat and chest, and it’s only seconds now before Nicky’s going to come, before he’s going to find the release he’s been chasing after for weeks now. Seeing Nicky this close to the edge is the strongest fuel for Joe’s own ever-growing desire.

“Fuck—” Nicky stutters, eyes squeezed shut tightly, “Fuck, _oh_ —”

“ _Stop!_ ” Joe’s sitting very upright now, all of his attention focused on Nicky, who’s still fucking into his fist, just nano-seconds away from coming. “I said _stop_!”

The sound Nicky makes the moment before he lets go of himself almost tears Joe apart. It’s a mixture between a hoarse cry, a sob, and a moan, and the next second, Nicky’s hands are digging into the upholstery on the armrests like iron nails, and his entire body is shaking with tension.

“Fuck,” he hisses, “ _Fuck_ , too late, gonna—”

“No.”

“Oh god, oh god—F—”

“Nicolò, no. Look at me. Look at me.”

“Can’t,” Nicky pants and shakes his head. “Gonna make me come…”

Joe wills Nicky to be able to stave this off, to take that one step backwards, away from the edge, that one step he needs to take to come back to this.

“Shit,” Nicky whispers some endless seconds later, “that was so fucking close _again_. I don’t know why I—”

“Yeah,” Joe murmurs, running his hand over his mouth. “It was. And you know how to get out of this if you need to, right, my love?“

Nicky nods. “Thank you for not—you know—letting me.”

Joe smiles, and when Nicky opens his eyes again and looks at him, the realization of his own earth-shattering arousal hits him like a salvo from a submachine gun. He almost folds in on himself, and Nicky sees it, of course.

“Oh,” he says, and this time it’s Joe’s turn to bite his lips. “But _you_ can.”

“Fuck—” Joe moans when Nicky rearranges himself in his chair, putting his body and his still very persistent arousal on full display. “ _Fuck_ , Nico—”

“Do you want to come on me?” Nicky coaxes, stretching the limits of what he’s allowed to do, and Joe has his pants undone and his cock out in no time. He’s jerking himself off frantically, and it doesn’t take long until he comes, covering Nicky’s still so beautifully flushed and sensitive skin with his pulsing release. 

When he comes to again, when he takes in the image before him, his knees threaten to go weak.

“The picture you make,” he moans, giving his spent cock one last stroke. “ _Nicolò_ …”

Nicky smiles. He’s flying right now, Joe can see that in his eyes. 

“I think—” Nicky murmurs, his voice slightly slurred, but ringing with such a profound happiness that it makes Joe’s heart miss a beat. “I feel as if I could do this forever now. It’s so, so good like this…”

When they go to bed, Nicky sleepily decides against the cock cage.


	5. Day 22 - Day 30

Which proves to be a grave mistake the following morning when he wakes up touching himself, arching into his touch, moaning. Joe has been watching him for a couple of minutes already, an amused smirk on his lips.

It takes Nicky a moment to realize what’s happening, his eyes hooded with arousal and his mind probably foggy with need. He just looks at Joe like that and smiles. It only lasts a couple of seconds, but for those few seconds Joe wishes he could just let Nicky stroke himself to climax. He imagines how Nicky’s come is going to feel on his fingers and how it will taste; he imagines the look on Nicky’s face, how his eyes would glitter and how his voice would sound.

But then Nicky’s eyes widen, and his hand stops. His eyes bore into Joe’s, and this time he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t moan, he doesn’t curse, he doesn’t plead. He just pants through it, pressing down around the base of his cock, his entire body rigid and shaking with pent-up release.

Joe kisses him then, brushes his lips over Nicky’s trembling ones, licking them, carefully at first. Then he gives in to his thirst, to his own overwhelming need to taste Nicky like this. His tongue licks into Nicky’s mouth, and once he has what he wants, he can’t get enough of it, so he fucks his tongue into Nicky’s mouth with his eyes closed and his cock throbbing between his legs, and his entire being hums with it. 

At the back of his mind he’s aware that he’s moaning, and he’s aware that Nicky gradually becomes just the same, drinking everything from his lips, every word, every breath, every promise.

Joe isn’t sure when exactly but at some point he has put Nicky’s hand on his cock, and now Nicky’s fingers are wrapped around it, and Joe is thrusting into the far too loose fist Nicky makes around him. The moment he realizes what he’s doing his orgasm hits, and he comes, moaning his climax into their kiss, and Nicky drinks that as well. 

They keep kissing until the waves of his orgasm have ebbed, Nicky’s sticky fingers still wrapped around him and his lips tasting of the Maltese sea.

“Nicolò,” Joe whispers, and Nicky nods. 

“Yeah,” he kisses onto Joe’s lips, again and again, until Joe falls back onto the mattress, utterly spent. 

“What a way to start the day,” Joe chuckles when he can speak again, shaking his head. “You undo me, my love…”

“As you undo me.”

When Joe turns his head, Nicky’s right there. Nicky’s hand is resting on his chest, his cock still hard, and he’s smiling. 

“You’re so beautiful.”

Nicky’s smile broadens, and Joe has to close his eyes for a moment. When Nicky speaks next, Joe’s eyes open again to find Nicky has closed his own and that his smile has faltered.

“I think I need—The cage, I can’t stand having it on, not now, not anymore. And I feel like I really need to come and—” Nicky swallows and, after a brief pause, continues. “I—The next time I might need more than just words to stop me from making that happen.”

“Will you tell me when you need me to tie you up?”

Nicky nods. “Not now, though. I’m good now.”

“You’re perfect,” Joe grins and gives Nicky a quick kiss before he gets up and gets out of bed. “Breakfast?”

Nicky nods. “I’m starving.”

“I’ll make you some eggs, then,” Joe says, running his fingers through his hair, trying to smooth it down a bit.

“I’ll make the eggs, I’ll do it,” Nicky shakes his head and climbs out of bed as well, his cock still fully erect. “You go and take a shower. You’re a mess.”

When Joe looks down, he has to admit that Nicky isn’t entirely wrong. There’s come on his stomach and on his thighs, and, judging by the state of his fingers, also in his hair.

“Okay,” he says, smiling apologetically. “You might have a point there.”

“ _Might_ ,” Nicky smirks, raising his eyebrows, and he gives Joe’s ass a playful smack as he walks past him. “You. Shower. Now.”

Nicky is doing better after that, and even though he asks Joe to restrain him or to put the cage on every now and then, at other times it seems almost effortless for him to hold back. He’s still aroused more often than not, but he has a good grip on himself, it seems. Sometimes, he even gets dressed and they go outside for short hikes. To Joe, it feels like the calm before the storm.

Joe loves to tie Nicky up, to the bed or to a chair, with his hands cuffed behind his back, and he loves to watch him struggle against and finally relax into the bonds. It’s seldom enough that they get to indulge in this, that they don’t feel like they have to be able to flee at any given moment. It’s a rare thing, feeling so safe and being able to let their guard down for once. So it’s special for Joe as well when he gets to do this, and he’s flying high with the experience. He loves seeing the marks the ropes, metal cuffs, and zips leave, even if they fade far too quickly. He loves to watch Nicky fight against and stave off the inevitable again and again, and he never gets tired of it. 

Days flow into nights like that, and nights turn into day. Some minutes seem longer than an entire lifetime, and some are like pinpricks to their minds. The tension building inside of Nicky bristles like electricity all around them. Space narrows, and the view widens. Their hearts beat as one.

The sun has just passed the line of the horizon, and the skies are still glowing red when Joe and Nicky wake up at the same time, facing each other. As soon as their eyes meet, Nicky’s face is lit up by the warmest smile.

“Today,” he murmurs and reaches out to let his fingers run over Joe’s features – his eyelids, his cheeks, his jawline, his lips.

Joe hums. “What’s today?” he asks, catching Nicky’s fingers in his and bringing them to his mouth. Nicky’s fingers are still warm with sleep, and his kiss tastes of sleep as well when Joe pulls in closer. “Hm?”

Nicky smiles into their kiss, his fingers running through Joe’s hair. 

“You know what today is,” Nicky replies, his lashes painting golden circles on his cheeks.

“I don’t.”

Nicky’s brows furrow briefly, and his eyes flutter open. 

“I counted. In my head. I counted the days since we started. Thirty. Thirty days. Today is the last day,” he whispers. “Today, I can come.” He shifts and cants his hips, and Joe can feel how hard he is, how aroused. The tip of Nicky’s cock leaves a wet spot on Joe’s skin, and Joe bites his lips.

“It’s August, my love,” he says quietly, and a frown begins to form on Nicky’s face, but then his features freeze, and his eyes go wide when realization dawns.

“No.”

Joe nods, kissing Nicky’s lips again, and then his fingers. “Yes. And August has—”

“No.” Nicky snaps, jerking his hand out of Joe’s gentle grip. “ _No._ ”

“You mistook—”

“No,” Nicky says again and rolls onto his back, his hands on his thighs. His fingers dig into his muscles, likely leaving bruises. He shakes his head and bites his lips. His cock is still rock hard and twitching against his stomach. He’s leaking. “I thou—No. It can’t—” He stretches his arms over his head, crossed at the wrists and hands balled into tight fists. His muscles have tensed up, he’s taut and strung out, and he’s not breathing regularly. “Shit,” he hisses, and his voice breaks when he speaks again. “I can’t do this anymore, Yusuf, I can’t—”

Joe could have lied, he realizes that, but it wouldn’t have been right. Nicky wouldn’t have been happy, not really, he wouldn’t have gotten what he wanted. What he needed.

Joe’s chest expands, and then it tightens again, painfully, when he looks at Nicky’s face.

Silent tears are spilling from his eyes, running down his temples, and he’s biting his lips so hard they’ve turned white.

“It’s okay, my love,” Joe tries to soothe, but as soon as he starts to speak, Nicky shakes his head again. “It’s just one more day. You just got a little confused in all of this, lost track. It’s just one more day. You can hold on one more day…”

“I swear I can’t,” Nicky’s breathing hitches, and his voice sounds hoarse. “It was— _Please_ —Today was—It was supposed to be the last day.”

“I know,” Joe murmurs, brushing Nicky’s hair from his forehead. “You can make it to tomorrow, Nicolò. You can do this. Just one more day.”

Nicky shakes his head again, but when Joe reaches up and closes the fingers of his right hand tightly around Nicky’s crossed wrists, his muscles unclench a little, and he draws a deep shaky breath.

“I don’t know,” he whispers, and squeezes his eyes shut against the stinging of the tears. “I just—I just want to come so bad.”

“I know,” Joe smiles, leaning down to kiss Nicky’s sticky lips. “I know you do, and I know you can do this. Just one more day, okay? For me?” 

It takes Nicky a few more slow, calming breaths before he can answer. He opens his eyes, and they’re deep and raw with need. “Okay,” he whispers and tries a small smile. “Okay. I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask,” Joe says, and gives Nicky another soft kiss. “And you know what you can always do if you can’t take it anymore, don’t you?”

Nicky nods, and Joe smiles. “Now, do you want food? In bed, maybe?”

“No, I’ll get up,” Nicky shakes his head, and it pains Joe a bit to let go of his wrists to let him sit up. “I need a shower.”

While he watches Nicky rise and make his way to the bathroom, Joe sighs. Then he shakes his head. He can make Nicky breakfast every day for weeks when this is over. And that’s exactly what he’s going to do.


	6. Day 31 - Release

Nicky does make it to the next day, even though just barely. The frustration of having erred on the number of days or rather: on the month they are surrounded by and thus being denied another twenty-four long hours takes its toll on him. He’s moody and cranky, and when Joe ties his wrists to the headboard again, he jerks his hands away three times before he finally lets Joe do what he’s asked him to do. It takes Joe even longer with the ankles. 

He pleads with Joe, he bargains and he swears at him whenever his arousal spikes, and he steps away from the edge several times before the sun sets, and after that as well. That night, neither of them gets much sleep, so by sunrise Nicky’s a mess, exhausted and tired, yet incredibly wound-up at the same time, drenched in sweat and on the brink of collapse.

Still, he smiles at Joe when the sun comes up, and his eyes glitter with pride.

“We did it,” he rasps, his voice raw with vibrating physical tension as well as with the deepest need of mind, heart and soul. 

“ _You_ did it,” Joe smiles back, placing the softest of kisses on Nicky’s dark, swollen lips. “I am so proud of you, my love.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you,” Nicky replies, and his eyes flutter shut. He looks absolutely shattered. 

Joe gently runs his fingers over Nicky’s face and through his hair, and Nicky hums and smacks his lips. After a couple of moments, his breathing deepens, and Joe realizes he has fallen asleep again. The exertion of the last thirty one days is taking its toll as Joe has suspected it might. Even though he knows he doesn’t have to, he checks the ropes around Nicky’s wrists and ankles, and brushes his hair from his forehead once more. 

“If you put your stubborn mind to it, you can do anything, my love,” Joe whispers, even though Nicky can’t hear him in his sleep. “Anything.”

He rises and makes his way to the kitchen. He wants to have some tea ready for when Nicky wakes up again. He doesn’t expect him to sleep for very long.

He’s wrong, though. Nicky sleeps for two hours straight, and when he wakes up again, he asks for something to eat, something light.

“Don’t you want to—” Joe asks, but Nicky cuts him short by shaking his head.

“Not yet,” he says, quickly glancing down at his cock. He’s only half-hard at the moment, but under their twin gazes his cock begins to swell again. “Later.”

“Okay,” Joe says, smiling. “Today, you can have whatever you want.”

They don’t get to talk about how Nicky wants it to happen, because after their belated breakfast, Nicky immediately falls asleep again, nestled against Joe’s side, and Joe dozes off as well a few minutes later.

He awakes to the sounds of Nicky’s breathless moans right there at his hear, and to the sensation of Nicky’s erect cock thrusting against his hip. The way Nicky rolls his hips and the way his breathing hitches in between moans have something so lascivious and at the same time urgent, that it takes Joe’s breath away as soon as he comes to.

“Fuck,” he murmurs, cradling Nicky in his arm and pulling him closer against his side. “Fuck, Nico—” He’s hard in an instant, and when their lips meet, he can taste how close Nicky already is. “Like this?”

Nicky shakes his head, trying not to break the kiss while doing so and failing miserably. He rolls onto his back and clenches his fists, his hips still rolling and his cock straining for release. “More,” he moans, squeezing his eyes shut and thrusting into the air again. “Need _more_ —”

“Okay,” Joe’s on his knees in an instant, and he’s looking down at Nicky with his own cock straining against his stomach. “How do you want to do it?” He runs his palm over Nicky’s arm to find his body burning with desire. “Do you want to do it yourself? Do you want my hand? My mouth? My—”

“More,” Nicky moans again, and he places his arms over his head again, crossed at the wrists, and Joe thinks he understands. “ _Please_ —"

“You don’t even know, do you? You don’t even know anymore what you want, hm?” he murmurs, brushing Nicky’s hair from his forehead again, and when Nicky opens his eyes and looks at him again, when he sees how out of it Nicky truly is, he knows he’s right. For a moment, a flash of panic flares up in him. What if Nicky can’t come? What if he’s too wound up to find release? What if his mind stands in the way of his body? It _has_ happened before, and even though a part of Joe had loved that, he doesn’t want it for Nicky now. “You—Okay, Nico. Nicolò. Okay. I’ll take this from here. I’ve got you, my love.”

Nicky nods, and when he tries to swallow around a thickness in his throat, it turns into a moan. 

Joe makes quick work of tying Nicky’s wrists to the headboard again, playing this by instinct. Nicky’s eyes bore into Joe’s when Joe has finished tying Nicky’s ankles as well, and even though Joe hasn’t gagged him, his voice sounds a bit like that. Swallowed moans and desperate, guttural sounds, words so slurred they’re almost muffled.

“ _Please_ —”

Joe nods. Nicky’s cock is hard and red and leaking and straining, and Joe knows it won’t take much now to push Nicky over the edge. He’s going to draw this out a little longer, though, because that’s what Nicky likes, and it’s what he likes as well. 

For several seconds he just looks at Nicky’s cock, watches it throb and twitch and how another drop of pre-come forms at the slit and adds to the sticky mess on Nicky’s flushed, sweaty skin. Nicky’s shallow panting and his helpless moans ring in Joe’s ears, and his own arousal buzzes through his body. He bites his lips and touches two fingertips to the small pool of pre-come. He just leaves them there for a moment, feeling the subtle tremble of Nicky’s muscles and his rabbit fast heartbeat below his skin. 

Nicky’s muscles tense when he doesn’t move his hand, and his hips try to push into the far too light touch, but Joe stills Nicky with his other hand on his hip. 

“Uh-uh,” he murmurs, shaking his head. “We can’t have that, Nico.” The trembling intensifies, and something between a moan and a sob falls from Nicky’s lips when Joe starts to move his fingers in slow, small circles. 

The head of Nicky’s cock brushes against the back of Joe’s hand, leaving sticky traces of arousal on his skin. It goes straight to his own cock, and he can’t hold back a low moan himself. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs, repeating the gesture. “You turn me on so much.”

“Fuck,” Nicky moans, a violent shiver running through his body. “Fuck, _please_ —”

“Like this,” Joe asks playfully, letting his fingers barely ghost along the length of Nicky’s shaft. “Hm? Like this, Nico?”

Nicky’s cock jerks under his featherlight touch, and Nicky whimpers with want. “So close,” he whispers, and knowing that he has Nicky almost _there_ fuels Joe’s own desperation. “I’m so close…”

Joe wraps his fingers around Nicky’s cock and gives it one firm stroke – down, and up, and then he runs his thumb over Nicky’s slit. 

Nicky’s hips thrust up, and for a moment Joe lets him. He lets him fuck into his hand, but he keeps his grip light, too light, and Nicky curses with frustration. 

Knowing exactly what it is going to do to Nicky, Joe strokes him again, following the rhythm of his thrusts. Nicky’s eyes are squeezed shut. His mouth is forming silent words. His muscles begin to tense with building climax.

When he thinks Nicky’s getting too close, Joe lets go of Nicky’s cock and holds his breath. 

“No,” Nicky moans, shaking his head and tearing at the ropes around his wrists. “No, fuck, don’t—please. _Please_. Please let me come, _please_. I—I need to, _please_ —” Another two very quick strokes and Nicky is almost there. “Oh god, fuck, please—”

Three strokes this time. Joe knows he’s pushing it, but he can’t resist, Nicky’s too beautiful like this, too intoxicating, too arousing. 

“Yeah,” Nicky pants, “god, yeah, please, _right there_ , please—”

Another three, and Nicky tries to curl in on himself, groaning, chasing after the friction. 

Another three, a little quicker this time.

“Oh fuck, you’re gonna make me—really close—really—”

Two, this time, because by now Nicky’s expecting three. 

A breathless pause. 

Three.

“Fuck, gonna come, make me—please—”

Three.

Joe stops after three, but he leaves his hand on Nicky’s cock this time, a loose touch, but it’s still there.

Nicky’s eyes fly open wide, and there it is. 

Nicky’s hovering right there, over the edge, and his eyes say what his mouth can’t say anymore, _please_. They say _Yusuf_ and _love_ and _need_ and _yours_ and _always_ and _please_.

It’s the most beautiful words Joe has ever heard.

He holds Nicky’s gaze for another fraction of eternity.

Nicky’s eyes widen.

Joe nods. 

He sees it in Nicky’s eyes before he feels it in Nicky’s body. Nicky falls.

He spills himself over Joe’s fingers and all over his chest and stomach, spurt after spurt, and Joe strokes him through it, his fingers tight and trembling around Nicky’s cock. Joe’s other hand is in his pants, wrapped around his own cock, jerking himself frantically, and soon it’s too much, everything’s too much, so he scrambles to his knees, pulls his cock out and lets his climax claim him, his come mix with Nicky’s on his skin.

Their eyes never leave each other during this, and when they finish, Nicky’s face is wet with tears.

“ _So_ —”

Nicky blinks and shakes his head. “I don’t—”

Joe nods and brings his come-stained hand to Nicky’s face. He strokes Nicky’s cheeks, his mouth, his forehead, his lips, and Nicky lets him, his features slack and his lips open and pliant. His tongue darts out to taste himself, and all Joe can do is stare in wonder.

Nicky rubs his face against Joe’s palm, and a small smile begins to form on his lips. He closes his eyes and leans into Joe’s caress.

For a few moments, Joe indulges himself and lets him have this, but then he breaks the contact even though it physically hurts. He quickly unties the ropes around Nicky’s wrists and ankles, pulls off his pants and pulls a blanket over them. He scoops Nicky up in his arms and holds him close.

Nicky mumbles something against Joe’s shoulder, but it’s too slurred and too muffled for Joe to understand.

Joe chuckles and kisses Nicky’s hair. 

“Go to sleep, my love,” he whispers, and Nicky nods. He knows that Nicky will want to thank him later, even though he doesn’t have to, that’s probably what he’s just been trying to do, but they have the rest of their lives for that. 

They have the house for four more weeks, and they’re going to make the most of it. Long walks and long fucks, lazy mornings and early evenings, food, flames in the fireplace even in the midst of summer if Nicky wants that.

Joe shifts a little and settles into the pillows. Nicky is warm and solid and relaxed against him, he’s breathing evenly, and Joe thinks he might even be smiling. 

He will have to get up again a little later and clean them up a little, but for now, he’s going to let them have this.

He closes his eyes and smiles.

~fin~

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [sal-si-puedes](https://sal-si-puedes.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. Come and say "Hi!"! 
> 
> And, just for shits and giggles, here's [a vid you probably all know in which Tom Hiddleston explains the concept of delayed gratification to the Cookie Monster](https://youtu.be/w_gmyTyYSVo). :)


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